A total of 160 million yuan (US$19 million) in unpaid wages has been recovered for almost 210,000 laborers in Shenzhen after a three-month campaign.

Most of the overdue wages, owed by 898 enterprises, would be paid to workers before the Spring Festival, which falls on Wednesday, said Guan Lingen, director general of the municipal labor and social security bureau.

An enterprise unable to pay its employees on time should not be considered a good enterprise, and Shenzhen would not welcome such an enterprise, Vice Mayor Liang Daoxing told a meeting Friday, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

Recovering back wages has been a major task for authorities before the Chinese Lunar New Year. An annual one-month campaign was extended to three months this time, covering 9,673 employers employing almost 1.74 million people.

The campaign was centered on the construction industry.

Liang said Shenzhen would step up supervision of unpaid wages. Those found owing wages to employees would be closely watched in the future, while those treating their employees well would have relaxed supervision.

(Shenzhen Daily February 7, 2005)